


Security: Old and New

by cantdrawshaw



Series: Blind!Kara AU [2]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: ? - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Human, Disabled Character, F/F, Flashbacks, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, I Don't Even Know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-07
Updated: 2017-08-07
Packaged: 2018-12-12 13:34:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11738130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cantdrawshaw/pseuds/cantdrawshaw
Summary: After a bit of a rough day, Kara tells Lena a story of her past.





	Security: Old and New

**Author's Note:**

> *comes back to this AU after 3 months and drops this* Hi, hope somebody's still interested. I don't know what this is, really, but I hope you like it.

When Lena gets home, she finds Kara curled up on the sofa. They’ve officially been living together for months now, and while it’s not unusual for Lena to come home to Kara reclining after work, it’s the sight of her hands fiddling with her headphones that gives Lena some pause. She knows Kara only brings out her noise-cancelling headphones when she’s having a particularly bad headache. Her shoes and long cane are haphazardly strewn about the floor in front of her. Lena carefully treads her way over to her girlfriend, her worry spiking when she sees that Kara still has her glasses on.

“Lena, hey,” Kara says when she reaches the couch, sitting up and holding out her arms. “Welcome home.”

Lena sinks into Kara’s arms and feels her worry abate slightly at the pleased tone in Kara’s voice. “Hello, love,” Lena says before pressing a kiss to Kara’s cheek. “Is everything all right? Head bothering you?”

“No, it’s okay.” Kara traces Lena’s face with one finger. She must take in the worry lines and the little frown of disbelief because she adds on to her statement with a shrug of her shoulders. “It was just a little bad when I got home from work. I took my meds and they’re working, I swear. Ten more minutes and I should be good as new. I just put these on and took it easy so I wouldn’t make it worse.” She gestures to the headphones that are now resting in her lap.

Lena tugs on her shoulder until Kara’s head is resting in her lap. She runs her hands through blonde hair as she massages Kara’s scalp. “How about we stay here until it’s gone completely and then we order dinner?”

“No kale?” Kara asks.

Lena laughs. “No kale. I promise.”

“’Kay,” Kara agrees, snuggling further atop Lena’s thighs.

Lena can’t help but notice how the gesture makes Kara’s glasses skewed, the one arm pressing awkwardly into the side of her face. She places her hand lightly on the frames. “Would you like to take these off so you can get a little more comfortable?”

Kara turns so she’s laying on her back, her hands flying quickly to the object in question, holding them to her face. “Not right now,” Kara says hastily. “I – I need – they – I want them on,” she stammers.

Lena’s a little startled, but she tries not to let it bleed into her voice. “All right,” she acquiesces, content to leave it at that.

But Kara must feel like she needs more of an explanation because she’s pushing herself upright and adjusting the frames as she rambles. “Jeremiah picked them out for me. Did I ever tell you that? And I know I don’t really need them anymore except for when I’m outside, but sometimes I just need to wear them for a while. They’re… calming somehow. Comforting. They remind me of him.”

Lena coaxes her back down and continues stroking her hair. “I’ve noticed the way you play with them when you’re nervous or a little overwhelmed. I’ve always thought they were like a security blanket to you.”

“Yeah,” Kara says. “That’s it exactly.”

They sit in silence for a bit after that, until Kara once again turns to face Lena. “Can I tell you the story? Of how I got them?”

Lena’s heart squeezes in her chest because _yes_ , she wants to hear anything her girlfriend has to tell her. She’d listen to Kara explain how she learned her ABCs if that’s what Kara wanted to talk about. “Of course.”

…

_Kara’s in school when it happens._

_She’s been dealing with headaches ever since the accident. Some are worse than others. Some require nothing more than some Tylenol and some water to go away. Others seem to be amplified by everything around her: every noise, every flash of light, every bit of motion only intensify the ache. Those are the ones that keep her home from school, that keep her locked in her room for days at a time, curled into a ball under the covers with her hands over her ears and her eyes squeezed shut._

_One day, after a bad period where all Kara can do is cry and choke out over and over again that everything is too loud, too much, too much, Jeremiah brings home a pair of headphones. They’re big and bulky, built to block out noise for construction workers and concert goers, and Kara finds that they help tremendously._

_But the headache she wakes up with that morning is slight enough that she doesn’t even notice it at first, so she figures she’ll be fine to go to school. She’s tough and she’s been looking forward to going to the Science Olympiad meeting with Alex after school – has been ever since her sister invited her to join as a way for the two to bond a little more – and so doesn’t want to let a little hiccup ruin her plans for the day._

_So when third period rolls around, and the pain only seems to be getting worse, Kara tries to ignore it. Ignore the way the hallway chatter is making her want to cringe and the scrape of chalk on the chalkboard makes her want to crawl out of her skin. She pulls her sweatshirt on and huddles into it, trying to pretend that the little brushes of skin as students pass her papers don’t bother her and the harsh low-budget lighting doesn’t make her want to die every time she looks around._

_She’s still trying to ignore all of it as she stops by her locker before lunch, because Alex’s locker is next to hers and her sister is excitedly telling her all about the teacher that runs the Olympiad team and how much fun it is and all Kara wants to do is be included in something her sister does. But the lightning bolt of pain that shoots through her skull disagrees with her._

_She falls to her knees in the middle of the crowded hallway, clutching a hand over her good eye. The last thing she remembers is Alex kneeling down next to her, pushing other people away and screaming for a teacher to help._

_…_

_Kara wakes in the hospital to tests and scans and worried faces, and it’s like waking up from the accident all over again. She panics and thrashes and it’s only Jeremiah who can convince her that she’s okay, that everything is going to be all right._

_But even his smile falters when she manages to tell him that everything is fuzzy, and it’s not because of her tears._

_Vision tests and more brain scans come next, and the results bring a lot of unwelcome news. Kara stares at the ceiling of the hospital room as the doctors explain how the nerve damage is worse than they originally thought, how they think the worsening of her vision is a sign of things yet to come. How it looks like her “good” eye is on the same track as her other one, and how the odds of her retaining her vision past her teen years are low._

_They tell her all this and then they release her to go home, and the following day finds the Danvers family in the optometrist’s, trying to pick a pair of glasses for Kara’s new prescription. Kara is sullen and unhelpful and resisting, but no one really blames her._

_“How about these?” Alex asks, holding up a pair of bulky frames. The two girls are looking through all the different options as Eliza and Jeremiah talk privately with the doctor._

_Kara just shrugs her shoulders listlessly because she’s tried on what seems like hundreds of pairs at this point, and her head is starting to hurt from the way she’s been squinting in an effort to see what they look like on her face in the mirror._

_She tries this new pair on anyway, but barely lasts a second before her skull twinges painfully. She rips them off her ears and shoves them back into Alex’s hands, resting her head against the mirror. “They’re stupid,” she says vehemently. “This whole thing is stupid! And completely pointless!”_

_“Don’t take it out on me! I’m just trying to help!” Alex lashes back. Her tone softens though, as Kara’s shoulders start to shake. “Hey, hey, hey, it’ll be okay. We’ll find a pair.”_

_Kara just presses her skull harder against the mirror and swipes harshly at her tears with a clenched fist. She shrugs off Alex’s hand that reaches out in an effort to comfort._

_“Alex,” she hears a deep voice say. “Why don’t you go with Mom and help her look at all the sunglasses? I can take things from here.”_

_She hears her sister let out an exasperated sigh and storm off, and this time she doesn’t shake off the large hand that squeezes her shoulder. She turns and buries her face into Jeremiah’s chest, gripping his shirt tightly as the tears continue to fall._

_He lets her cry for a little before he says anything, knowing she needs the emotional release. When she’s done, he steps back and wipes her face with his shirt sleeve. “I know this is hard for you, Kara. But I promise you, no matter what happens, we’re going to be with you every step of the way. We all care about you. And that includes Alex in all her moody teenage glory,” he teases, drawing a watery laugh and a small smile from Kara._

_“So let’s find you the perfect pair of glasses, shall we? Something that shows off your pretty face.”_

_Kara nods and lets Jeremiah pull her to another display case, glad when he maintains the grip on her hand as he looks around. He glances at all the options for about a minute before he lets out a triumphant noise and reaches towards the shelf._

_"These,” he says, holding out a pair for Kara to inspect. “I think these are the ones.”_

_Kara puts them on and stares at herself in the mirror, but it’s still no use. She turns towards Jeremiah instead. He looks her face up and down and breaks out in a wide smile._

_“You look beautiful,” he insists. He turns and calls out behind him. “Eliza! Alex! Come look!”_

_Alex reaches them first. “Those look nice,” she says honestly. Kara can tell she wants to make up for her earlier outburst. “Much better than all the ones I made you try.”_

_“Oh, those look lovely, dear,” Eliza says, smoothing some wayward hair behind Kara’s ear to see them better. “Do you like them?”_

_Kara turns back to the mirror and does her best to make out her face in the glass. “Yes,” she says truthfully. “I like them.”_

_And when she places the finished product on her face – her prescription for her right eye set and just an unaltered lens in the left – she can’t help but let out a little sigh of relief at the strain that immediately disappears from her skull. And she can’t help but think that it’s Jeremiah’s magic touch that did it as he smiles down at her._

…

“So yeah,” Kara says, finishing her story. “I know it’s silly, but I always feel a little better when I put them on. Even when I couldn’t see anymore and had to switch over to black lenses. I just think about Jeremiah picking them right off the shelf like it was nothing and it makes me laugh. It was one of the first things I remember them helping me with as a family.”

Somewhere in the midst of Kara talking, they switched positions. Lena’s now the one with her head resting in Kara’s lap, letting Kara’s hands run through her hair. Lena’s relaxed a little too far, and she shakes her head sleepily as she reassures Kara. “It’s not silly. It’s really sweet, actually.”

Lena moans at the loss of Kara’s hands from her head and she opens her eyes questioningly to see Kara folding her glasses and placing them on the table. “What are you doing?” Lena asks.

Kara’s reply is succinct and obvious. “Taking off my glasses.”

“Why? You just told me a heartfelt story of how much they make you feel better.”

Kara’s fingers thread their way back through Lena’s hair and she smiles. “Yes, but I’ve found a new security blanket recently. Much better than a pair of glasses.”

“Oh,” Lena says as she realizes. She plays along. “What is it?”

Kara’s smile gets even bigger and Lena’s heart swells.

“My undying love for kale,” Kara declares.

And… the moment’s ruined. Kara snorts as Lena grabs a pillow from above her head and smacks her girlfriend with it. Kara just continues to laugh as Lena huffs.

“You dork,” Lena says.

Kara smooths out the frown from Lena’s face by kissing her gently. “You love me.”

“Yes,” Lena agrees. “Somehow I do.”


End file.
